Never Saw It Coming
by petals-to-fish
Summary: Jily Muggle AU. "No, no no, no…" Lily Evans moaned, throwing her head back with her eyes closed, only to hit the seat headrest in frustration. She never saw him coming and she knew she'd ever be the same.


**I actually wrote this in 2015 but never uploaded it to Fanfiction. Based loosely off a personal experience and Taylor Swift's song "State of Grace"**

 **Enjoy**

 **xxx**

 **Petals**

* * *

"No, no no, _no_ …" Lily Evans moaned, throwing her head back with her eyes closed, only to hit the seat headrest in frustration.

She never saw it coming.

Had she imagined the sickening sound of metal on metal? She opened one eye, letting it swivel to the motorbike next to her car and winced. Both her eyes opened to focus on one thin white scratch on the black paint and her fingers started shaking as she began looking around. No one had witnessed her hit the motorbike, it wasn't horrible, and she could drive away with no problems to herself or her lack of money to repair damage.

Then she sighed; _of course_ she couldn't walk away. Her parents had raised her better than that.

Lily stood up out of the car, being careful to not open the door farther, incase of adding to the already scratched motorbike. Lily pushed her bangs back and then smoothed her black dress in worry. She glanced to the restaurant she had exited, wondering if it belong to anyone in there. Her boss, the restaurant manager, would murder her if she damaged a patron's car.

A new kind of panic set in, would she be fired?

Before Lily could even process this new worry someone exited the restaurant carrying a To Go box. He was tall with messy black hair that looked like it could sue a good brush or two. A wide smile was on his face, confused justly at the girl standing next to her car looking like a lost puppy.

"Alright?" he shouted at her ten paces away.

The blood drained out of Lily's face and her mouth opened as she tried to figure out a way to explain her strange behavior. She mouthed wordlessly and pointed between her car and the nice black motorbike. The man's kind smile disappeared and realization dawned on his face at Lily's gesturing.

" _No_." he looked scared.

Lily put a hand on her forehead in shame and nodded, "I'm _so_ sorry!" she gushed but the man had dropped his To Go bag and was examining the scratch with his finger. The man was whispering to himself, probably cursing Lily. Lily felt tears prick her eyes.

"I got the seatbelt stuck and opened–I didn't look properly. I'll pay for it!" the words tumbled out of her mouth and she hesitantly reached for his shoulder.

The man turned to look at her, horror in his face.

"I'm dead." the man whispered to her, his hazel eyes wide.

Taken aback Lily pulled her hand from his shoulder, "Excuse me?"

The man stood up, towering over Lily, despite the fact that Lily always thought she was taller than most people. He wore glasses that framed his hazel eyes in a way that made him look like quite the computer nerd up close. Lily noted he wore a nice suit and tie. He was a designer for the largest company in the area according to his name tag which had his face printed on it next to the words "Story Designer".

"I'm dead!" he repeated, putting his hand on his forehead as if he was in shock, "You've literally dug my grave."

"It's–it's just a scratch," she whimpered apologetically, "I had no idea–"

The man healed up his hand, "Shhh." he closed his eyes.

Lily frowned, "Don't sush me, I'm trying to apologize and you don't even–"

The man snapped open his hazel eyes and glared at her, panic momentarily gone from his face and replaced by truth, "This isn't _my_ motorbike."

"Oh," Lily was confused again, "But you–"

The man put up his hand to silence her again and Lily frowned at being shushed for the second time, "Let me explain," he stated, putting a hand to his chest, "My name is James…the owner of this bike is my best mate."

"Where is he?" Lily asked, brushing tears from her cheeks, "I'll honest to God pay will for it, I just–"

"He doesn't _exactly_ know I have the bike." James muttered, now ruffling his messy hair and looking abashed, "I'm not supposed to drive it."

"What."

A half grin took over the designer's tan face, "Oops?"

Lily felt the panic setting back in, "You should call him." she urged James, "Tell him what happened."

"Are you mad?" James snorted, picking up his To Go bag, "I'm not gonna tell him anything. Ever."

Lily huffed, "Then why did you look horrified when you saw what I did?"

James pulled a phone from his pocket, "Initial reaction." he looked calm now, "I'm gonna fix this before Sirius even _thinks_ about his motorbike."

Lily watched as James typed things into his nice phone and Lily looked down at her cheap mobile that she'd had since before she could remember. Everything on James looked new, brand new, like if she checked the collar there would still be tags hanging. His shoes didn't even have a slight scuff on them. Compared to Lily's old black dress and scratched black heels from hostessing, he was the height of fashion.

A few moments later James breathed in deeply, "Okay, there's a repair shop just down the street, I'll take it there, have it detailed, and hopefully Sirius won't be the wiser."

Lily nodded, "Okay, I'll follow behind to give you my information so I can pay for it."

James smirked at her for a moment, his hazel eyes staring at her in a way that made her stomach flop like she was on a roller coaster. Lily turned away from him tog et in her car so she could look away from him without saying something stupid.

"Okay." James said as she sat in the driver's seat, "If you follow behind me?"

At the stop light on the way to the repair shop Lily found herself checking at her reflection in the rear view. Lily's green eyes were still shining from crying and her mascara was giving her dark circles on her eyes. She furiously scrubbed at her face and thought about how she likely would have to pick up extra hours to break even for this accident.

At the dealership she got out of her car as James unmounted the motorbike, the To Go bag still wrapped around his wrist. The poor bloke hadn't even gotten a chance to eat. When he spotted Lily behind him, the fact of hunger didn't even seem to bother him. A bright smile greeted Lily as she stepped forward awkwardly.

"I'll go in and see what they can do." Lily half nodded and looked down at the bike.

How could things go so wrong so quickly? When James came back out he was tucking his phone back into his pocket but he grinned when he saw her leaning up against the bike that had started this adventure.

"What?" she questioned at his grin.

"Nothing." he stated, but there was a mischievous twinkle in his eye as he took her by her elbow and started guiding her back to her car.

"Where are we going?" she stated, glancing back at the bike, "It's–"

"Fine." he interrupted. Something he did a lot, Lily noted. James opened her drivers side door and pointed her in, "We're going to the park to eat my dinner and then we'll come back for the bike in an hour."

Wondering who this man exactly was Lily entered her car slowly as he bounded around so he could sit passenger side. James was pulling off his coat, reveling a stark white bottom down underneath. Lily smiled to herself when she saw his tie was forest green. The color suited him for some reason.

Taking the car out of park Lily followed James' directions to the Park. As she drove James was filing through her old iPod connected to her car's tape player. He was silent and she was silent as he picked all her favorite songs from her 'happy' playlist. She kept glancing his way but he seemed to be too enthralled at her music to look at her.

"Here we are." she finally stared through the chorus of her favorite Arctic Monkey's song.

James looked up and grinned, putting her iPod in the cup holder and lifting up his to go bag of food. Lily parked the car in front of an old park table. Behind the table was a small swing set with a slide that looked ancient. Lily hadn't even known about the park until James had mentioned it.

They sat at the park table under a giant oak tree with names carved into his bark. Lily was reading the names, trying hard to not stare at the man sitting directly across from her, pulling food out of his to go bag. Roxette loved Maurice. Sasha was there in 1971. A paw print was caved into the wood right by James' left ear.

"Chips?"

Lily's green eyes snapped back to the grinning man who healed out chips in her face happily. Cautiously, Lily accepted a few with her eyes trapped on his.

"Thank you."

"No problem." he said cheerily, placing the chips container down and pulling out his sandwich, "And here I thought I was going to have to spend my dinner alone!" he seemed happy at the other option.

"I doubt you thought someone would scratch up the bike." Lily answered in self-defeat, "I am _really_ sorry." she added.

James just continued smiling at her, "It's no problem, I do have a question for you though."

Lily tilted her head, "yeah?"

"What's your name?" he unwrapped his sandwich, "I missed it in all the excitement."

Lily pushed lose strands of her red hair back into her braid, "I'm Lily."

He took a bite, acting like he was mulling over her name, like it was strange and new. Lily thought he was strange, new, and she liked him.

"Do you live in Yorkshire?" she asked him.

James nodded and swallowed some of his food while pushing the chips at her again, "Went to Dowry Private."

Interest sparked her senses, "I went across the street to Puddi's!" she explained, "I used to sneak across to your school to see my boyfriend!"

James' eyebrows shot up into his hairline, "You've got a block who went to Puddi's?"

Lily laughed and shook her head, feeling more comfortable and taking a chip from him again, "No, I haven't seen him in over two years." she mused, "He broke up with me because I wasn't good enough to bring home to his parents."

James looked fascinated now, "What was his name?"

"Liam Gandy?"

James blanched, "You dated Liam Gandy? _You're_ Liam Gandy's old girlfriend?!"

"Yes?" Lily was puzzled at his shock, "Why?"

James put down his sandwich and gestured to all of her, "Liam let you get away from him?"

Lily blushed and shrugged.

"Honestly." James seemed beside himself, "If I had even an inkling of you across the street, I wouldn't have wasted my time with Eliza Mitchells."

Lily wrinkled her nose at the mention of snobby Eliza Mitchells who spent more time mocking Lily for her hand-me-down clothes than anything, "Eliza?"

James hit her playfully with his hand, "No sour tone from you Miss _I-Dated-Liam-The-Lame._ "

"Eliza was horrid." Lily argued back.

"I'd say we both just picked the wrong people back then." he leaned forward, gazing at her in a way that made her fingers curl and her eyes flutter from his in embarrassment.

"I'd say." she replied with a short laugh.

"You know what they always say," James replied to her short tone with an encouraging tone, "You never see the right ones coming."

They finished up lunch talking about James' new job (he wanted to design cartoons for children but hadn't gotten that dream job yet), Lily's job (she was working towards her chemist degree and was working on the side), and even their favorite drinks (he preferred whisky and she loved mudslides).

"My mates and I have every inch of Dowry Private memorized," James explained as they drove back to the dealer after the quick meal, "We spent more time running from Professors than actually learning anything."

"I only went to Dowry during the day once," Lily replied, "It was pretty nice, except the entire third floor was blocked off because of a pipe leakage."

James burst out laughing, "They said it was a pipe leakage?" he looked beside himself as they drove away from the park, "You're joking right?"

"Wasn't the pipes I take it?"

James was wiping his eye from laughter, shaking his head, "Sirius and I set off all the fire alarms after we almost got caught sneaking in alcohol. The entire third floor had to be dried before anyone could go up there because the sprinklers became faulty and kept going off."

"Trouble makers." Lily mused, "You don't _look_ like trouble."

James grinned sideways at her in the passenger seat, "My boyish charm helps me get away with a lot."

Lily snorted, "Boyish charm?"

"I know, I know," he ruffled his hair and sent her the stupidest look, "It's hard to resist."

Lily shook her head and they pulled into the dealership. Lily was pulling into a park spot when James cursed.

"What?" Lily asked.

James grabbed her shoulder and pointed to an angry looking man with long hair standing at the front doors of the dealership. He wore leather pants and had his arms crossed across a dark black v-neck. He was handsome in the way that James was not: rugged and sharp cut.

"It's Sirius." James moaned, " _Shit_."

Lily watched as James sunk farther into the passenger seat as if not wanting to be spotted by his mate. Lily didn't blame James as Sirius looked like he was pretty rough around the edges.

"Hiding's stupid. He's just seen you." Lily told James, feeling her cheeks warm as the man started for her car looking ready to kill.

"He's gonna murder us." Lily hissed, shoving James to get up straight, " _Do something."_

"I don't know what to do!" James moaned as Sirius, the motorbike owner got closer.

Lily could hear the man shouting at James though the car doors.

He was _mad_.

Lily swallowed, "We're _so_ dead. Aren't we?"

James nodded weakly as he opened the passenger door so Sirius couldn't yank it open angrily.

"What the _fuck_ , James? My BIKE?! I _told_ you NOT to drive it!" Sirius shouted at James, reaching into the car and taking James by his nice tie.

The urgency of the situation rose incredibly when James started shouting back at Sirius to let go.

"Oi!" Lily felt instinct to protect James and got out of her car, "Don't hurt him!"

Sirius was too busy shouting at James and James was trying to release himself of Sirius' hold. Lily went round her car and grabbed Sirius by his shoulder, yanking him back and off James. James unbuckled himself from his seat as Lily started yelling at Sirius.

"I was the one who hit your bloody bike! Don't yell at him, James was trying to fix it!" Sirius blinked stupidly at her, "I'm _sorry_ , I'll pay for it all."

"Who're you?" Sirius asked stupidly, frowning at her, standing exactly at her height and looking frightening.

"I already paid for it!" James pushed Sirius out of Lily's face and they all stood facing each other in the middle of an empty parking spot, "How'd _you_ find out?"

"Remus." Sirius stated simply, as if this man, Remus, was of no importance.

" _Traitor_." James hissed, his eyes glancing Lily's face momentarily before falling back to the floor.

"He's a better mate then you." Sirius stated, "At least he knows how much the bike means."

Meanwhile Lily had been registering something James had said. She turned slowly so that she was blocking Sirius out of the conversation and pointed one of her fingers at James.

"You–you paid the repair?" she questioned, "Already?"

"Er." James looked like this wasn't how he wanted it found out that he paid for the motorcycle Lily had said she would pay for. it was the whole reason she'd joined James. His cheeks were growing darker. "I just thought," he began, "I mean I would've never had you pay. I should've told you I just–"

"I can pay you back." Lily offered instantly, "How much?"

James looked so uncomfortable and he was glancing at his mate like he wanted help from the bloke who just tried to strangle him. Sirius laughed and walked back into view of Lily, looking her up and down. Lily don't like the sparkle in Sirius' grey eyes, especially since five seconds ago the bloke had been madder than Hell.

"You don't have to pay me anything." James grinned at her, ruffling his hair and glancing back at Sirius, "I mean, not that I _don't_ appreciate it but–"

"The motorbike." Lily argued, feeling more and more confused, "I scratched it. I should pay for it."

"Do me a favor," Sirius spoke up, catching Lily's intense stare, "Just promise to never let this _idiot_ near my bike again and you don't have to worry about it."

"Why would I have any say in what he does or doesn't do with your bike?"

James and Sirius exchanged a knowing glance. Sirius smiled and walked over to Lily, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"It's fine…" He paused as he realized he didn't know her name.

"Lily."

"Lily then. Don't worry about it, Lily." Sirius grinned before shooting James a glare, "You can walk home for this."

"I'm sorry!" James shouted after Sirius who flicked James the middle finger.

Sirius got his keys from a waiting attendant at the front door and started his motorcycle. Sending James and Lily a salute before heading off into oncoming traffic, Lily had the impression that James' mate was quite mad.

Lily turned back in confusion to James who was scratching his chin thoughtfully. Lily couldn't _believe_ he'd paid for the bike to be fixed. He was charming, sweet, and kind. Lily wished she could think of a way to repay him. James was smiling at her now, a smirk that made her toes curl.

"So." he commented.

"So." Lily mocked.

"I _really_ don't fancy walking home…"

"I can take you there, it's the least I would do–"

James interrupted her once more, "Well, the thing is I don't _really_ think I fancy going home either." he stared at her in a way that made her realize what he was implying, "I hear there's a really good production tonight at the local theatre."

Lily felt a smile curl onto her face, "Are these those boyish charms you mentioned?"

"Hard to resist right?" James teased.

Lily laughed, "Get in the car."

James grinned wickedly and got into her car. Lily passed back around toe front to the drivers seat and saw him in the windshield already playing with her old iPod.

James had been right at their picnic table when he said that you never see the right ones coming. When she'd left work she'd never imagined any of this happening. Lily felt like a carefree child again as she entered the car and James announced he felt like they should get milkshakes–on him of course. The smile she wore was all for James.

She never saw him coming and she knew she'd never be the same.


End file.
